happy:blissful!

A New Trend: Bands with very, very long song titles, with punctuation! and witty banter.

So, when did this trend start? Recently, Sufjan Stevens comes to mind. He's got song titles including:

*'For the Widows In Paradise, for the Fatherless in Ypsilanti,'

*'Variation on Commemorative Transfiguration and Communionat Magruder Park,'

*'They are Night Zombies!! They are Neighbors!!'

But, from what I know, his earliest album- 2000's A Sun Came, had short song titles, including, my favorite, 'A Winner Needs a Wand.'

It wasn't until his 2003 album Greetings from Michigan- The Great Lake State, where he really got creative with his song titles.

And, a new band, that I've recently discovered- Deathray Davies- also have long song title names as well, including:

*'I Regret the Day I Tried to Steal Daniel's Ego,'

*'You Can Keep a Straight Poker Face or Play Dead in the Movies,' and

*'They Stuck Me in a Box in the Ground, Pt. 5.'

Doesn't Bright Eyes songs have interesting titles as well? There was 'A Spindle, a Darkness, a Fever, and a Necklace' from the 2000 album, Fevers and Mirrors. There's also 'You Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will' from LIFTED of the Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground. Wow, that's a long one.

To offer even more examples, another band I just discovered, which prompted this posting, Drew Danburry, has some fantastic song titles from the album Are We Just Playing Around Out Here Or Do We Mean What We Say. Some song-titles include:

*'Red Rock Virgin's Encounter with Winter Nights'

*'Know Your History Before You Become Part of the Repetition'

*'Rainbow Days Come After Rain Booth Make Life a Little Less Plain'

Whatever happend to the short, yet sweet titles like Beethoven's 'Symphony No. 5' or, Pachelbel's 'Canon in D.' Straight to the point, even clueing us in to what key the song was in.

Maybe contemporary artists want to paint an idea of the song even before we listen to it. Or, maybe the artist really likes to hear themselves talk. Or maybe it's because the artist thoughts are truly this long, and that's what they wanted as the song title.

Whatever the reason, I'm liking the new trend. I've always wanted to compose a song called: 'I once had a dog named Trudy! She didn't like me as much as my twin sister... It made me sad.' Or something.